


184-Proof

by caramelcoups



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bar/Pub, Bad Writing, Businessman Choi Seungcheol | S.Coups, First Meetings, Kinda, M/M, Writing Exercise, as always, sociopathic tendencies, we don't know much about jeonghan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2020-07-10
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:08:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25178173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caramelcoups/pseuds/caramelcoups
Summary: “Why do you come here every night?”“I’m waiting for someone to sweep me off my feet.”Seungcheol sees beauty differently, feels emotion differently. But somehow, Jeonghan is beautiful to him anyway, and he manages to introduce Seungcheol to a brand new emotion.
Relationships: Choi Seungcheol | S.Coups/Yoon Jeonghan
Comments: 2
Kudos: 17





	184-Proof

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Thank you for having interest in this little story.  
> I'd like to warn you that Seungcheol here is basically the opposite of irl S.Coups that we know and love. However, I wanted to explore neurodivergence in this context and I'm rather enamored with Jeongcheol at the moment - this is the result of that.

Seungcheol wouldn’t call himself an alcoholic. But oddly enough, addicts don’t seem to know if they’re addicted either. Those were his musings as he sat on a familiar cushioned bar stool under familiar warm lights tinted in orange and obnoxious blue.

The place was dingy and atrociously decorated, with a small platform of a stage opposite the old wooden bar. Seungcheol wondered briefly why it was still illuminated by harsh spotlights despite not being used. He had been going to The Balvenie every night for a couple of moths already, needing the fix of alcohol every night, without the dullness that drinking at his own apartment would bring, and yet he had never seen a performer stand on that stage.

What a pity, he thought, the place could use a bit of life. The only bit of liveliness at the bar was the bartender who-

“Hey, Choi. What can I get you?” A high-pitched voice asked from his left. Yujin is, for a lack of better word, cool. Their dad was the owner of the bar and they’ve been a bartender since they turned the legal age. They’re the only on who livens the place up, aside from a couple of _interesting_ regulars.

“Just an old-fashioned tonight, Yujin. Thank you.” It was a relatively good day at work. Seungcheol had been working non-stop for a few months with the hopes of getting promoted, a laid-back Friday night like this was ultimately rare. In his mind, he was a few steps away from being the president at their corporation after their current one retires in a few weeks, putting in maximum effort would be worth-it.

“You got it, boss. Still on your own tonight?” Yujin asks, quite nosily if you ask Seungcheol. But then again, bartenders do tend to be nosey.

“Yes, Yujin. As usual.” He replies.

“What’s with you young business people and being obsessed with being bachelors.” Yujin replies while preparing his drink.

“It’s not like I’m trying to be a bachelor, you know. I just am.” This is what he doesn’t get, really. It’s not like he wants to be single, that’s just how it is with work and all.

“Sure. Whatever you say. I’ll wingman for you anytime though, I kinda feel bad that you can’t pick anyone up.” Yujin says with a grimace and a squint.

“I’m not-” Seungcheol gives up. “Nevermind.” They have this conversation almost every night. He’s seriously not trying to take anyone home. 

However, the bartender slides Seugcheol’s drink in front of him. As Seungcheol holds the glass to his lips with three cold fingers, he finally scans the room.

He knew where his eyes would fall eventually, but he keeps the expectation to his subconscious. He turns around slowly, leaning his left elbow on the tall bar now behind him, and he sees a perfectly postured figure sitting alone in a four-person red cushioned booth. The figure is pale-skinned and long-limbed, presumably male, sitting with his legs crossed at the knees and holding a tall glass of beer with the pads of his fingers. Atop his head is chocolate red-brown hair that looks like it has been dyed to look that way, it falls as fringe on doe-like eyes.

Seungcheol has met a lot of people, and he has been acquainted with quite extraordinary individuals. But, he thinks, he’s never seen extraordinary beauty this understated.

The person at the booth has a delicate face, beautiful and effeminate yet unmistakably masculine. High cheekbones, upturned lips, a small nose, and a proportionate forehead, not to mention balefully beautiful eyes – this man sat in a booth with jeans and a large corduroy jacket and he manages to look ethereal under such ugly lighting.

Almost a month into becoming a regular at The Balvenie, Seungcheol notices him. The brown-haired figure is at the bar every time Seungcheol is – that’s been almost every day for six or seven months.

He hasn’t attempted to talk to the guy, despite seeing him every night, he just never had a reason to. Yujin would tease him to no end if they catch whiff of his interest – for Seungcheol of course, it’s interest in a more curious ‘why is he here every night’ way, but Yujin would undoubtedly think otherwise. He was also a bit intimidated by the man, who has lines in between his eyes etching waves into his skin and hooded eyes casting shadows on his face.

But tonight, well, Seungcheol is confident.

Some beauty is meant to be admired from afar, he thinks, but not this kind.

Also, he hadn’t eaten dinner so the alcohol has already reached his brain.

He finishes what’s left of his whiskey and places it on the bar. He rubs his thumb across his four other fingers to distribute what’s left of the condensation, then he stands and wipes his hand on his pants. He walks until he reaches the booth where the man is sitting. With a brief moment of panic as he sees the man’s indifferent gaze fall on him, Seungcheol speaks.

“Come here often?” It’s easy. It’s the line that’ll make him come off like he’s clueless, and that he has a sense of humor.

“Just as often as you, I suppose.” The man seems surprised, but not agitated nor threatened. Seungcheol gets the boost of confidence that he needs. “I guess so. May I sit?”

“Sure. Go ahead.” The man answers lightly. Seungcheol believes he should be more apprehensive.

He replies with a hum and sits down across the man. He thinks the right emotion would be shyness, a bit of embarrassment. “Sorry. I just – I thought It’d be a good idea to talk to you somehow.”

“No, it’s fine. Maybe the bartender wasn’t enough company tonight?” He smiles a bit, lips curving up at the edges. Right eyebrow lifting slightly.

The man is really quite stunning, Seungcheol can’t help but smile fully despite knowing the advantages of keeping it hidden for a bit more. “I think I just wanted different company, actually.”

“And I was the chosen one? Out of all these near-retirement aged men in this bar, you chose me?” Funny, Seungcheol thinks, and good conversation. “Difficult choice. But I notice you sitting here every night, none of those near-retirement aged men seem to have that consistency.” He says, gesturing vaguely to the seven or so other men and women in the room with them.

The man chuckles at that, uncrossing his legs and putting his elbows on the table to face Seungcheol more. “Well I’m flattered, then. I ‘notice’ you here too, you sit right over there letting Yujin talk your ears off.”

Seungcheol places his hands on the table, tilts his head minutely and gives a sheepish smile. “I want to ask you a question, actually.”

“Hm? Okay, shoot.” He takes a sip of his beer.

“Why are you so beautiful?” Seungcheol asks, looking of innocent curiosity.

He’s beautiful, so Seungcheol looks, and he tells him. Seungcheol can appreciate beauty, the finer – the finest things in life. He doesn’t live in a multi-million dollar penthouse like his friend Jihoon, he isn’t a sommelier like Minghao, he doesn’t attend Milan or Paris Fashion Week like Junhui, he doesn’t get invited to red carpet premieres like Mingyu; but Seungcheol knows beauty, and how romantic beauty can be when it is humble and quaint. He knows that he’s wealthy, but his money will not push him to see the beauty in the extravagant.

Maybe that’s why he chose The Balvenie to spend hours of his time in, with its piss-poor lighting and unfinished old wood furniture. Maybe that’s why him and Junhui didn’t work out – because of the Louis Vuitton and the Fendi and the private planes. Maybe that’s why he moved out from their mansion to live in an apartment decorated with some snow-globes sent by his cousin Hansol from New York. Maybe that’s why he’s talking to this man who’s in imitation Vans and a soft sweatshirt, who has knobby fingers and no rings.

The man covers his mouth in shock, and Seungcheol smiles. It’s the reaction he wanted – the man won’t forget him. “I thought you were gonna ask for my name or my number or something.” The man replies after swallowing the sip of beer, smiling as well.

Ah, pleasantries, Seungcheol thinks. “Oh, yeah, that too. Can you tell me your name?”

“It’s Jeonghan – Yoon Jeonghan.”

“So, Yoon Jeonghan, why do you come here every night?”

Jeonghan shrugs, smirking a bit, with mirthful eyes. “I don’t know, maybe I don’t want to answer questions from a stranger anymore.”

Seungcheol actually chuckles at that, “I’m Seungcheol. Not-a-stranger-anymore Seungcheol.”

“Alright, not-a-stranger Seungcheol. Ask away.”

“So, why do you come here every night?” He continues. He wants to ask him, why here with dim orange lighting, exposed nails in the furniture. _What’s wrong with you? Don't you know how beautiful you are?_

“I think,” Jeonghan takes a deep breath and continues, still smiling a bit. “I think maybe I’m waiting for someone to sweep me off my feet, take my breath away, show me the stars and bring me the moon - that kind of deal.” He looks around the room while saying this, eyes sweeping from the window to the illuminated stage, so Seungcheol knows it’s not a just a pick-up line. The lights of the room are still ugly orange and yellow, but the edges of his vision turn sharper. The man in front of him has suddenly been colored in high saturation.

Jeonghan’s reply genuinely vexes Seungcheol. Very, very unexpected, so much so that it annoys him. He can’t read the situation anymore. Jeonghan is beautiful, humbly so, but not simple. Seungcheol has to take a few seconds to think of an appropriate response until he realizes.

“That’s a lot to look for in an old bar.” _You’re looking for love._

“That’s not a lot to look for in a person, though.” _I’m waiting for love to find me._

Seungcheol doesn’t feel much emotion, but he knows a lot about them. This one is interesting. This one is brand-new, he thinks – as they talk more for a couple of hours, he feels promises forming.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first work in this fandom (yay). I kinda want to write more but I don't currently have any ideas so feel free to comment literally anything. If you want me to continue this au, what would you want to see? If you don't like it, what didn't you like? Also, please correct my grammar if anything is wrong.
> 
> Please leave feedback, I'll love you forever. <3


End file.
